Cricket World Cup 2019: How England v Australia could open up semi-final battle

Stuff – Lasith Malinga cheering for the wicket of Jos Buttler, one of his four as Sri Lanka shocked England.

Summary

As well as Sri Lanka’s stunning upset of England, there was the enthralling climax in Manchester where centurion Carlos Brathwaite was denied a match-winning six on the boundary in New Zealand’s dramatic five-run victory over West Indies, Afghanistan were just 11 runs shy of beating India for the greatest shock in World Cup history, while the unpredictable Pakistan breathed life into their tournament while ending South Africa’s miserable campaign.

With their 4-2 record after six games, lurking beneath England (fourth on eight points) are Bangladesh (fifth on seven), Sri Lanka (sixth on six) and Pakistan (seventh on five), who all kept their semi-final hopes alive by winning their last games against Afghanistan, England and South Africa respectively.

Defeat would leave England on eight points with two games to play and their place in the semi-finals would become more vulnerable if just one of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan were to keep winning, though their fate would still be in their hands for their final games against New Zealand (first on 11 points after six games) and India (third on nine after five).

The Black Caps have three left (against Pakistan, Australia and England) and India four (against West Indies, England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka).

However, if England were to then lose against India and New Zealand, to qualify from there, Bangladesh would have to win their remaining two games against India and Pakistan; Sri Lanka would need at least two wins from three and a significantly improved run rate from playing South Africa, West Indies and India; and Pakistan, assuming the whole equation is not affected by any abandoned games, would have to win their final three against New Zealand, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and hope the teams above them slip up.